When Love Finds a Home (14 page)

"Yeah," Anna said
with a chuckle. "That's what Pietro used to call cookies that you bought
at the store."

"Where did you get your
cookies?"

"From the
restaurant."

Rona frowned. "You never
bought cookies from the store?"

"Why should we when
fresh-baked goodies were delivered to the restaurant three times a week?"
She handed Rona a cookie.

Rona bit into it and savored
the sweet flavor of chocolate. "Well, I was raised on these and I can't
imagine anything tasting better." She nodded toward the Oreos. "You
should try one."

Anna glanced down at the
package in her hand before reluctantly biting into the cookie. She chewed it
slowly.

Rona found her herself
watching Anna's lips more than she was observing the road.

"It's not bad," Anna
admitted.

"You can't truly
appreciate them without a cold glass of milk," Rona insisted.

Anna shook her head.
"Sorry, the milk is in the trunk." She smiled before taking another
bite of cookie.

"How long have your
parents owned the restaurant?" she asked to divert her attention away from
Anna's lips.

"They opened it when I
was a year old, so almost thirty-six years."

"Wow, they've owned it
your entire life, practically."

Anna made a murmuring sound of
agreement as she handed Rona another cookie. "There's a small room in the
back of the restaurant and we played in there when we weren't in school. We
would go there after school, do our homework, eat dinner and then play until it
was time to close. Later, when we were older, we would work there every summer.
I still eat dinner there a couple of times a week. Of course, I won't have to
now that Tammy's started cooking."

"That's amazing,"
Rona said as she declined the next cookie. "You would think that after all
these years they'd be ready to retire."

"They've cut back some.
They stopped doing the cooking about twelve years ago and they're starting to
talk about hiring a manager." She shook her head. "But I don't see
that happening anytime soon. It's going to be hard for them to let go of the
reins."

"Were they upset that
none of the kids were interested in taking over the place?"

"They never pressured us
to keep working there, but I think it must have bothered them some," Anna
said. Without warning, she changed the subject. "What about your parents? What
do they do?"

"Mom was a housewife and
Dad was president of the North Division of Groggins." At the blank look on
Anna's face, she explained, "Groggins manufactures paper products and then
sells them to companies who put their own brand names on them."

"Was?" Anna asked.

Rona glanced at her.

"You said your mom was a
housewife and your dad was president of the company. Are your parents
deceased?"

"Not unless they've died
in the last two years," she replied sharply. She saw Anna's shocked look.
"We all didn't grow up with June and Ward Cleaver." She didn't add
that as far as she was concerned, they might as well be dead.

Anna folded the wrapper over
the Oreos and placed them back in the plastic bag. "I'm sorry. I had no
business prying."

Rona regretted her outburst
and wished she could take it back. She wanted Anna to smile again but didn't
know how to make it happen. They rode the rest of the way back in silence.

It was almost three by the
time Rona and Anna returned home. As they opened the kitchen door, a wave of
delicious scents rushed out to greet them. "Something smells good,"
Anna called out.

Tammy and the girls came from
the direction of the den. "I thought a bowl of chili might taste good for
lunch," Tammy said as she headed out into the garage to help bring in the
groceries.

"I should have thought to
call and let you know when we'd be home," Anna apologized. "The
meeting with Mr. Tanner took longer than I had anticipated and then we stopped
at the store."

"Don't worry about
it," Tammy said as she put the milk in the refrigerator. "Chili
always tastes better after it has set for a while." She walked to the
stove and turned on the oven. "I waited to put the corn bread on, because
I didn't want it to be cold."

Rona saw a large rectangular
pan sitting on the counter beside the stove.

Anna removed her coat and
draped it over the back of a chair.

"Good, that'll give me
time to put the groceries away and change clothes before we eat."

"Go ahead and
change," Rona said. "I'll put the groceries away."

"Are you sure?" Anna
asked.

"If I can't find where it
goes, Tammy will show me," Rona said. "Go get comfortable."

After Anna left the room,
Tammy put the corn bread into the oven then helped Rona put away the groceries.

"You girls go watch
television until I call you to eat," Tammy said.

"Can we have a
cookie?" Katie asked as she spied the Oreos.

"Not until you eat. Now
scoot." As soon as the girls left, she turned to Rona. "How did it go
today?"

"Okay. I type slower than
anyone she would have hired, but it didn't seem to bother her." She put
several small containers of yogurt in the refrigerator. "How did you do
today?"

Tammy smiled as she talked
about dusting and vacuuming as if it were some grand entertainment. She saw
Rona staring at her and blushed. "I know I sound silly, but it's so
wonderful to be able to do things like a regular person."

Rona nodded. "I
understand what you mean." She took out the opened packet of Oreos and
stood staring at them.

"You two are worse than
the kids. No wonder you aren't starving."

"We only had a
couple," Anna protested.

They turned to find her
standing in the doorway wearing sweats and a pair of old house shoes.

Tammy rolled her eyes.
"You even sound like the kids."

While they were teasing each
other, Rona slipped the Oreos into her jacket pocket. It wasn't the cookies so
much as just wanting to hold onto the package. It had been a long time since
anyone had bought her anything. She told herself it was a good thing that Tammy
hadn't seen her snatch the cookies or she would have been sent to her room
without supper.

Chapter Fifteen

The following morning, Rona slept
late and stayed in bed for a long while after waking. The house was quiet, but
she could smell a vague scent of coffee. Rona glanced at the clock beside the
bed. It was a little after ten. By now, Anna would have already left for
church. The previous night, she tried to persuade Tammy and Rona to join her
family for dinner. She offered to pick them up after church, but they both
declined.

Rona lay in bed enjoying the
beams of sunshine that crept through the blinds and danced across the room. She
finally forced herself to get up and take a long hot shower before getting
dressed. As she was pulling on her jeans, she heard a crackling sound. The
envelope with the money Anna paid her was still in her pocket. She removed it
and tore it open. Inside was thirty-three dollars. She smoothed out the blanket
and carefully spread the three tens and three ones out on the bed. It had been
a long time since she'd had this much money at one time. She took one of the
tens and put it
in her front pocket
before placing the remaining twenty-three dollars back into the envelope and
hiding it under the mattress.

After gathering her handful of
dirty clothes, she headed downstairs. The house was empty. She started a pot of
coffee then put her dirty clothes in the washer. The utility room was down the
hallway, past the den. A second short hallway led to Anna's room. Curious, she
walked toward it. The door was open. A wide wallpaper border of red and gray
swirling lines topped pale pink walls. Several colorful rugs softened the dark
hardwood floor. The headboard and dresser were a dark wood. A small table and
rocking chair sat in front of a wall of windows. Through the opened blinds, she
could see a portion of Anna's backyard. A large jewelry box sat on the dresser.
Rona eyed the jewelry box. She knew she should check it to see if there was
anything that might be useful to her but found she couldn't make herself enter
the room. As she continued to stand in the doorway, she heard the front door
open. As quietly as possible, she ran back to the main hallway and tried to
appear calm as she made her way back to the kitchen. She met Tammy and the
girls as she neared the kitchen.

Tammy looked up, clearly
surprised. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"No. I've been up for a
while. I was putting my clothes in the washer."

Tammy seemed to be studying
her.

She tried not to fidget.
"I made a fresh pot of coffee if you'd like some," she offered.

Tammy nodded.

Rona noticed the girls were
not as talkative as usual. "What's wrong?" she asked them, eager to
turn Tammy's attention away from her.

Karla hung her head, but Katie
finally answered. "Karla wanted to build a snowman, but the snow won't
work."

"It's too warm and most
of the snow has melted," Rona told them. "That's why you have to
build it right after it snows."

"I wanted to build one
here, so I could see it," Karla whimpered.

"Karla," Tammy
implored. "I've told you there's not enough snow. Besides, it won't stick
together anymore. You tried and it kept falling apart." She helped the
girls remove their coats.

Karla turned and walked toward
the den. Katie followed. A moment later, they heard the television.

Tammy sighed and ran her hand
over her ponytail. "That child is so stubborn. You should have seen her.
We went for a walk to a neighborhood park where there's still snow piled up
beneath the trees." She followed Rona into the kitchen while talking.
"She must have spent fifteen minutes trying to make a snowball."

Rona poured the coffee and
carried it to the table. "I can't imagine where she gets that stubborn
streak," she said as she set the cup down.

Tammy made a face at her as
she hung the girls' coats on the back of a chair. "Hush."

They drank their coffee
accompanied by the distant sound of cartoons.

"What are you doing
today?" Tammy asked.

Rona thought about it for a
moment before answering. "I don't know. It's been so long since I had
anything to do. I'll finish my laundry. Maybe I'll go for a walk later, if it
isn't too cold."

"It's not bad at
all," Tammy assured her. "If you don't have plans, would you like to
go shopping with me?"

"Shopping?" Rona
asked, surprised.

"Anna gave me half of my
salary for the first week in advance. I thought I'd try to find a Wal-Mart or
maybe a Dollar Store. I need to buy the girls some socks and underwear. Maybe
some shoes. Katie's are too small for her. She's starting to complain about
them hurting her feet."

"Sure, I'll go with you.
I saw a thrift store yesterday when we were coming home. It's not too far from
here. Not more than a thirty-minute walk."

"Have you eaten
breakfast?" Tammy asked.

"No, but I'm not hungry.
I'll be ready as soon as I have another cup of coffee."

Tammy nodded. "I'm going
to go talk to Karla. See if I can't cheer her up."

Rona had finished her coffee
and was rinsing the cup when Tammy and the girls came back into the kitchen.
Karla didn't seem to be any happier.

"The washer kicked off,
so I threw your clothes in the dryer," Tammy said as she began to put the
girls' coats back on them.

"Thanks. Just let me run
upstairs and grab my jacket." She started toward the stairs.

"Rona, wait a
minute," Tammy called. "There's something I've wanted to do for a
long time and couldn't."

Rona took an involuntary step
back.

Tammy burst out laughing.
"Lord, you should have seen the look on your face. You need a haircut. I
want to cut your hair. I found a great pair of scissors while I was
cleaning." She put her hands on her hips. "What did you think I
meant?"

"I don't know," Rona
mumbled and shrugged. "Do you know how to cut hair?"

"I used to cut my dad's
all the time. Unless his hair was cut a certain way, he'd have a horrible cowlick."

Rona ran a hand over her thick
mass of hair. More than two years had passed since her last haircut. It hung
over her shoulder in uneven clumps.

"Come on, you're starting
a new job tomorrow. You don't want to be looking all scruffy."

"Okay, but don't do
anything weird to it."

Tammy tilted her head sideways
and smiled. "Heck, here I was thinking how cute you'd look with a mohawk
and a blond stripe right down the center."

"Okay, okay. Where are we
going to do this?"

"Upstairs in my bathroom.
I can raise the shade and the light will be perfect. Go on up and I'll go get
the scissors." She placed their empty cups in the sink.